03/03/2015
I still think about that advice. It wasn’t meant to be harsh. In fact, it’s just about the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me: "Needs more love".
Years on, I still hear him saying that, and it guides me. Those words get me out of the caves I get myself into. We should care more about our craft because we’re granted an opportunity to contribute to the world. We should care more about what we say because each time we speak, there’s someone there to listen. We should care more about our audiences because they are the ones who give our work value.
We might think that work is about you or about me or anyone else who makes it, or maybe about the things that we make and the artifacts we produce, but don’t let this way of thinking fool you. The things we make are all just excuses to speak with one another and to help one another.
We are all linked, and the things that we make for each other strengthen the invisible threads that tie us all together. There is a part of me that will always work for the joy of doing it, but I now understand that the point of it all is not for me to enjoy myself, but for the ones using whatever I make to have some sort of wonder when doing so. We are in service to those that use what we make, to the ones that listen to what we say. We all may be little particles shooting through space with the potential to move faster than light, but our work is a testament to our codependency. We are anchored to one another, so we all shift together. And so I am glad to be here with you, in this far away place, anxious to make and to learn and to let my torch burn a little brighter. All it needs is more love.
~ after Frank Chimero
Needs more love. It guides us.
Shiva Parvati Chai Shop
You are the Essence
